Glendalough Guide: The Monastic Site, the Two Lakes and the Walking Trails

Glendalough — from the Irish Gleann Dá Loch, "the valley of the two lakes" — is the best-known site in the Wicklow Mountains, and one of the most-visited places in Ireland outside Dublin. It's an early medieval monastic settlement set in a glaciated valley, with a round tower, a scatter of stone churches, and two lakes that give the place its name and its atmosphere in equal measure.

Who founded it, and when

The monastery was founded in the later part of the 6th century by St Kevin (Cóemhgen), said to have come from a noble Leinster family and to have chosen Glendalough specifically to live as a hermit, in solitude and prayer. He's traditionally associated with a small cave-like hollow on the south side of the Upper Lake, known as St Kevin's Bed, set into the rock face about 30 feet above the water. St Kevin died around 618–620.

What started as one man's hermitage grew, after his death, into one of the great monastic centres of early Christian Ireland — a "monastic city" that functioned for roughly a thousand years, training clergy and drawing pilgrims from across the country before its decline after English forces sacked it in the late 14th century.

What's still standing

Most of the surviving monastic remains sit in a cluster around the Lower Lake, reachable on foot from the visitor centre:

• The Round Tower — the site's signature landmark, standing around 30 metres (100 feet) tall and thought to date from roughly the 10th–11th century. Round towers like this served as bell towers, storehouses and refuges. The conical cap is a faithful reconstruction built in 1878, using stone that had fallen from the original and was found stored inside the tower's base.
• The Cathedral — the largest of the site's churches, built in phases from around the 10th to 13th centuries.
• St Kevin's Kitchen — a small, well-preserved barrel-vaulted church whose miniature round tower-style belfry gave it the "kitchen" nickname, from a mistaken idea that the belfry was a chimney.
• Reefert Church — a smaller, plainer church further up the valley, associated with a nearby early monastic graveyard.
• High crosses and cross-inscribed slabs scattered through the graveyard, some of them worn nearly smooth by the centuries.

The two lakes

• Lower Lake — the smaller of the two, right next to the monastic ruins and visitor centre. Most first-time visitors see this and the churches on a short visit.
• Upper Lake — about 1.5km further into the valley via the Green Road (flat, easy walking, and also a shuttle bus route in peak season), ringed by steep valley sides and reached past the old lead and zinc mine workings. This is also where the National Park's information point and the main walking trailheads are.

Walking trails

Glendalough sits inside Wicklow Mountains National Park, and its trail network ranges from flat lakeside strolls to a genuine mountain hike:

• Miners' Road / Lake Walk — about 5.4km, largely flat, tracing the shore of the Upper Lake past the ruins of old mine buildings. A good option if you want the scenery without the climb.
• Spinc and Glenealo Valley (White Route) — around 9.5km and roughly 3.5 hours. This is the well-known one: a boardwalk along the cliff edge above the Upper Lake, several hundred steps up onto the Spinc ridge, sweeping views back down the valley, then a loop down past the abandoned miners' village and back along the Miners' Road. Passes Poulanass Waterfall near the start.
• Shorter looped walks around the monastic site itself, suitable for anyone who just wants to see the ruins without a hike.

Trail conditions change with weather and maintenance work, so check current route status at glendalough.ie before setting out on the longer routes, and wear proper footwear — the boardwalk and steps get slippery when wet, which in the Wicklow Mountains is often.

Visitor centre and getting oriented

The Glendalough Visitor Centre, run by the Office of Public Works, sits near the Lower Lake and is the starting point for most visits — it has an exhibition on the monastic site and is normally open daily year-round. A separate National Park information point, run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, is near the Upper Lake car park and is the better stop if walking is your main plan, with trail maps and seasonal opening. Check heritageireland.ie and nationalparks.ie/wicklow for current hours before you go.

Getting there from Dublin

• Bus: St Kevin's Bus Service has run a direct route from St Stephen's Green North to Glendalough since 1927 — reputedly one of the longest-running bus routes in the country. The trip covers about 50km and takes roughly 80 minutes each way. Timetables vary seasonally, so check current departure times and fares at glendaloughbus.com before you travel.
• Car: about an hour from Dublin via the N11/M11 and the R755 through Laragh, with paid parking at both the Lower Lake (visitor centre) and Upper Lake car parks.
• Organised tours: several Dublin-based day tour operators combine Glendalough with Powerscourt or the Sally Gap — a reasonable option if you want to see more of the Wicklow Mountains in a single day without driving yourself.

Planning tips

• Glendalough is at its busiest around midday with coach traffic; arriving early or staying into the late afternoon gets you a quieter site.
• Weather in the Wicklow Mountains changes fast — bring a waterproof layer even on a forecast-dry day, especially if you're doing the Spinc walk.
• Pair a Glendalough visit with the wider Wicklow Mountains National Park guide below if you want to see more of the park beyond the monastic site itself.

Related reading

• Wicklow Mountains National Park Guide
• Things to Do in Wicklow
• Best Day Trips from Dublin